Exploring and Partying In Qatar

The Mindsports World Championships allowed us to travel!

Whilst everyone was working away at the MSA 4th World Mindsports Championships at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre, Qatar. I went out with a couple new friends and explored what Doha had to offer, I was not disappointed!

YouTubers are a class of internet celebrities who have gained popularity from their videos. The platform's top YouTubers are drawing large audiences by creating content that is both entertaining and authentic while forming influential relationships with their followers.

Meet our YouTubers. They went around vlogging the event and their activities in Qatar.

Travel and Share- Mirella and Romulo are ex business grads, he has a master in IT and she holds an MBA. They have worked for many years in corporate jobs and decided to leave everything behind to undertake. They left their jobs, their houses and all their belongings to travel the world and start a new business. That is how Travel and Share started and everything is story told in more than 650 videos on their channel. They currently have 513K subscribers with over 42 million views.

Wayaway- Josh and Ashley, are an American couple who've appointed themselves as the US' unofficial cultural ambassadors. It is their goal to inspire people to travel and experience other cultures around the world.

The life of Jord- Jordan is from the UK and in 2014 sold all of his possessions, quit his job and began to travel the world. Since 2014 he has travelled over 50 countries, started an online business, studied martial arts in China, Won YouTubes Nextup competition in London and much more! He Currently has 65K subscribers and 6 million views.

20th August 2017

Our first adventure started with wake boarding! We drove 30 minutes from the Marriot to the Diplomatic club where we boarded the boat.

The Diplomatic Club is a private and exclusive members Club in Doha, which provides leisure and wellness to dining. It is located along the west bay shores between Katara Cultural village and the Pearl Qatar.

View of the diplomatic club's pool:

An array of water sports activities are available on request ranging from wakeboarding, water skiing, screamer rides, banana rides and leisure boat trips.

Ashley browns first attempt:

Josh Brown showing off his wake boarding skills:

Romulo trying and failing to stay up...

23rd August 2017

We started our second day taking a tour of the 2022 World cup offices.

This will be the first time the World Cup will be held in the Middle East, and in an Arab and a majority-Muslim country. This tournament will be the last one to involve 32 national teams.

Our tour guide explains the transportation and accommodation that will be built for the World Cup in 2022.

Birds eye view of the world cup stadiums:

World Cup introduction video:

The first five proposed venues for the World Cup were unveiled at the beginning of March 2010. The stadiums aim to employ cooling technology capable of reducing temperatures within the stadium by up to 20 °C (36 °F), and the upper tiers of the stadiums will be disassembled after the World Cup and donated to countries with less developed sports infrastructure.

1970's Qatar football kit:

2022 artwork:

After the tour of the offices we stopped by to see the mini Venice of Qatar.

After this we arrived at the Islamic Art Museum. The museum is located on one end of the seven kilometres long Corniche in Doha.

The museum is built on an island off an artificial projecting peninsula. The museum is influenced by ancient Islamic Architecture. The main building consists of the five floors, the main dome, and the central tower.

The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) represents Islamic art from three continents over 1,400 years. Its collection includes metal work, ceramics, jewellery, wood work, textiles and glass obtained from three continents and dating from the 7th to the 19th century.

The museum houses a collection of work gathered since the late 1980's including manuscripts, textiles and ceramics. It is one of the world’s most complete collections of Islamic artifacts, with items originating in Spain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, India, and Central Asia.

After leaving the Islamic Art Museum, we ended the day by visiting Souq Waqif.

The Souq is noted for selling traditional garments, spices, handicrafts, and souvenirs. It is also home to dozens of restaurants and Shisha lounges. Although it dates back at least a hundred years, it was renovated in 2006 to conserve its traditional Qatari architectural style.

Abdullah holding the Falcons in Souq Waqif:

The Falcon Souq, with multiple shops selling trained falcons and accessories made on site, really shows what a special place falconry has in Qatari culture.

Abdulah explains the costs of each Falcon:

24th August 2017

We departed for a thrilling desert drive over the golden sand dunes, deep into the heart of the desert. There was a fabulous view of the sun setting over the desert dunes.

The fun begins when our 4x4 Wheel Drive vehicles start the dune bashing over the Golden sands where we got to experience the real meaning of fun.